Signs and Symptoms of Type I Diabetes

Diabetes is medical condition a person has high blood sugar. This could be due to less production of Insulin or insuline resistance by the body. High blood sugar could result into polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia.

Type 1 diabetes is caused due to stoppage of insuline production by pancreas. The patient suffers from high level of sugar in the body due to body’s failure to produce insulin. Patients of type I Diabetes need to have insulin injection to maintain the normalcy of blood sugar. This type of Diabetes is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. This stoppage of insuline production occurs due to auto immune response or viral attack on pancreas. Due to lack of insulin in the body cells don’t get enough glucose to produce ATP (Adenosin Triphosphate) units. ATP is responsible for energy in the body. This could cause nausea and vomiting. It could also lead to ketoacidosis. In this state there is breaking down of muscle tissue and fat occurs causing sudden weight loss.

Sign and Symptoms of Type I Diabetes

Signs and symptoms of both type of Diabetes are mostly similar as in both the state sugar level in blood is significantly high. Symptoms of Type I Diabetes are more pronounced and suddenly start showing.

Type 1 diabetes may be diagnosed as an early age. The extra stress can lead diabetic patients to ketoacidosis. If ketoacidosis is not treated for long, it can lead to coma and death. Most common symptoms are as follows:

Polyuria- the patient suffers from polyuria or frequent urination. It happens due to body’s need of getting rid of high sugar through excretion. This could also cause dehydration due to loss of high amount of water through urination.

Polydipsia- Patients need to dilute the high level of sugar in the body. Thus brain signals the thirst so that more water is consumed. It leads to polydipsia or excessive thirst.

Adverse effects on Eyes- Patients with long phase of high sugar level suffer adverse effect on eyes. Extra glucose is absorbed by eye lenses and alters its shape and functioning. It could cause changes in vision such as blurred vision and some patients could even suffer loss of vision. There is rapid vision change in patients of type 1 Diabetes.

Extreme tiredness- patients of Type I Diabetes suffer from extreme and constant tiredness. It is so because the sugar present in the blood is not fully utilized for energy production due to lack of insulin.

Sudden weight loss- body becomes unable to perform metabolic activities efficiently thus leading to lack of energy. This lead to use of stored fat and protein for these activities. This causes sudden weight loss.

Poor wound healing- High blood sugar levels prevent functioning of white blood cells, which are a major part of our immune system. They defend our body against any bacteria and also help to clean dead tissue and cells. Due to poor functioning of white blood cells patients of type I Diabetes have a poor wound healing ability. High sugar also thickens blood vessels. This interferes with proper circulation of blood and oxygen and other nutrients, which are circulated through blood, are prevented from being properly delivered to the whole body.

More prone to infections- Patients of Type I Diabetes are more prone to infections as there is poor functioning of white blood cells and immune system.

Restlessness and Uneasiness- patients of Type I Diabetes feel agitated, irritable, lethargic, uneasy, restless or confused. High blood sugar also affects functioning of brain leading to restlessness and other alteration in mental state.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis- patients suffering from Type I Diabetes are at higher risk of developing Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis could be recognized by a state of metabolic dysregulation characterized by the smell of acetone; a rapid, deep breathing, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Patients may also have changes in consciousness.

Prolonged Diabetes could increase the risk of blood vessel damage. It also increases risk of cardiovascular disease. Other risks involved are development of ischemic heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Diabetes could also lead to kidney failure and also adversly affect the nervous system.